People Change
by hobbitfanforever1
Summary: John Watson met James Moriarty when they were both 12 years old. John and James friendship. Bullied John. Bullied James. Carl Power is a bully, James kills Carl Powers. Sherlock will come in later chapters. Spoilers for Season 1. Warnings: Bullying. More to come!
1. Chapter 1

12 year old John Watson walked stiffly to his locker, ignoring the mean names and comments being called after him.

 _"Teacher's pet!" "Twat!" "You're a dead man walking!" "Watch your back kid!"_

He somehow always managed to convince himself he didn't care about the insults, but he knew deep down it was a lie. No one had ever said anything remotely positive or encouraging to John. Not his teachers, none of his classmates, not Harry, not even his mother (his father died years ago, but John always wondered if his father would say anything positive to him.) He wished for the thousandth time he had a friend. And on that particular Tuesday his wish became reality.

He began rummaging around in his locker to grab his things for algebra class. He grabbed his book and notebook and was about turn around, but he began to tense up a bit when he felt dark shadows being cast over him. He slowly turned around and was not very surprised to see Eric Hawren, Tony Wincy, and their leader, Carl Powers creating a semi-circle around him. John knew he didn't stand a chance against the three 13 year old boys. However, John was sick of doing Carl's homework and this time he decided to stick up for himself. He looked around and sighed as he realized there were no teachers in sight.

"Right then, I've got homework that needs to be done, Johnny, I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing it for me, right? Carl said staring down at John.

"I've got plenty of my own right now and-"

John gulped and tried hard not to show he was scared as Carl grabbed him by his collar and held him in midair. All of a sudden he threw John hard onto the floor. Eric and Tony grabbed John's algebra book and notebook and flung it across the room.

John had landed hard on his back and he could feel his head start to spin. He struggled to get up, but Carl wasn't finished with him. He grabbed John's soft sandy brown hair and yanked hard, John yelped in pain and quickly Eric came up behind him and covered John's mouth with his hand.

Carl leaned down close to his ear and whispered, "I think you've got the message, Johnny, homeworks due tomorrow. Give it to me no later than-" Carl stopped mid sentence and his normally angry expression turned to one of complete surprise as he felt an arm slide around his neck. Eric stepped away from John and joined Tony as John slid to the floor.

Eric and Tony watched as the boy who had grabbed their leader began punching Carl in the face. Finally, Carl managed to get away from the blows and the three bullies began running down the hallway.

The mysterious boy crouched down John who was curled up in a ball. John looked up in surprise to see a boy with black hair stare back at him. John was naturally defensive as he was regularly bullied,(he had not seen the boy punch Carl to save him) and he flinched the closer the other boy got to him.

"Please, I'll do your homework, ju- just please don't hurt me..." John could feel tears threatening to roll down his face.

The boy stared back, "I would never hurt you, and I certainly hate seeing others harm you which is why I gave that bully a beating."

John looked up with surprise, and a hint of suspiciousness, nobody had ever said something like that to him before, "Really?"

The boy nodded and handed John back his algebra things, "James Moriarty. I will never hurt you, and from now on I'll make sure no one hurts you when I'm around….. I promise." John's eyes widened, he had never ever had someone promise him something. He was just used to getting hurt by anyone who didn't ignore him.

"John, by the way, John Watson." John replied timidly, with a tiny smile on his face. He didn't even worry about what kind of lie he would have tell his teacher about why he was late to class.


	2. Chapter 2

So… could we be friends?" John asked bravely, almost scared that the answer would be no.

"Obviously." James replied with a grin. Then the boys remembered they were going to be late for class. "This is my first day here, could you show me where algebra class is with Mr. Hope?"

John smiled brightly, "Yeah, sure, I have algebra now, too." He led James down the hallway until they reached room 6A. They shuffled in as Mr. Hope looked up.

"Where were you boys?" he asked with a frown.

John opened his mouth to respond, but James beat him to it.

"My name is James Moriarty. I'm new here and John was showing me the way around the school. Sorry we were late."

Jeff Hope grabbed his agenda sheet and sure enough near the bottom was a note saying he should be expecting a new kid named James Moriarty. He nodded to the boys as they hurried to sit down.

John couldn't help feeling very impressed how easily James had lied like that. Well… not all of it had been a lie, but still. Had it been him John probably would have said, " _Well…. you see I was just… I… slipped! Yeah...I slipped and…. it took me awhile to pick up everything and… well that's why I'm late."_ John was a bad liar and he knew it.

When the bell rang John and James walked out of class together both relieved it was the end of the day. "Well see you tomorrow, James!"

"Bye John. I'm glad we're…. friends." James replied. James had realized he liked the idea of having a friend.

After waving goodbye, John turned and trudged home, thankful he only lived two streets down. He was so excited to write down in his journal that he had made a friend and that his new friend had made a promise protect him. What more could he ask for in a friend? James was funny, nice, and didn't want to hurt him like everyone else did. He had to write in a journal, because after being constantly bullied John had decided it was time to talk to the school's counselor, Ms. Jennifer Wilson. She suggested writing down what happened everyday in a journal to take some stress away. So he let out his anger and hurt on paper with a pencil. Well, he certainly wasn't going to tell on them, knowing they would give him a terrible pounding for telling a teacher. And besides none of the teachers liked him, except maybe Mr. Hope. As soon as he walked into his house however, he noticed something was wrong.

For one thing there were boxes packed tight with items from the living room sitting on the kitchen floor. And then there was Harry, who was home, sitting at the kitchen table instead of hanging out with Gretta, a 17 year old girl who, 90% of the time, was drunk. Harry had a crush on Gretta, John could tell, even though she never admitted it to him. She was always spending time with Gretta after school, usually they met in an abandoned alleyway, where Gretta would bring some of her father's booze. One day when Harry still wasn't home by seven John went searching for her. Only to find her in an alley with Gretta drinking beer like there was no tomorrow. He had taken Harry home knowing their mother wouldn't mind because she couldn't care less about her kids, their mother was like that even before their father died of a heart attack. Which is why it was strange Harry was home so early, because that could only mean that mother had called and told Harry to come straight home. It could have also meant that Gretta was sick or something, but Harry had told him once that Gretta comes no matter what's wrong with her. So what was going on? He walked slowly towards the table and placed himself next to Harry. John gave her a questioning look and was even more confused when Harry shrugged.

All of a sudden their mother walked in and stood in front of the table, but did not sit down, she glared down at them and said, "Alright we're moving to Edinburgh on Monday. I got a new job over there and there will be no complaining about it. I already called your school and told them we're moving." John suddenly felt himself becoming sad, he had just made a new friend! Had mother told him about it yesterday, rather than today, well… he would be jumping around the room with excitement. As would Harry if she had never met Gretta. John's mind race, today was Thursday, tomorrow was going to be his last day of school there. Ever. John wasn't worried about whether they would pack up in time, he knew they would, they didn't have many items at home anyway. But he realized he didn't want to leave London.

John stood up and mumbled something about packing up his belongings. Then he ran to his room and shut the door behind him tightly. He grabbed his journal from under his pillow and a pencil. He began scribbling down furiously everything that had happened that day, being bullied and meeting James Moriarty. John paused when he finished his entry for the day. He had nearly forgot he was going to have to tell James he was moving tomorrow

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you have enjoyed it so far. Reviews are appreciated :) More to come...**


	3. Chapter 3

James rushed home, grinning the whole way. When he arrived home he said hello to his dad (his mum had died 5 years before that and he had no siblings) before running up the stairs to his room. He had just made a friend and it was surprisingly easy. He had even promised John he would protect him. James had never made a promise like that before, it was his first promise ever (and his last for that matter). But if you truly knew James it would not come as a surprise to you that he had made a promise to protect his friend. James enjoyed admiration and respect, both of which he knew John had given him after the promise he had made. But that was only a small reason for making the promise after only having met John for a day. The main reason was that James Moriarty was a genius and his mind worked differently than a normal one.

He had no idea how to make a friend, because the closest thing he had ever had to a friend was an old neighbor named Tim Walbrun. James was 10 at the time and Tim was 16. He was like Tim's shadow and wherever Tim went James was not far behind. At the time James was bullied and ignored in his class, but it didn't matter because James wasn't sure what to say to them anyway. So he decided to take note of everything Tim did around his friends. Tim didn't mind James presence only telling him to "stay out of his way." After a couple days of following Tim, James got very excited when he heard Tim was going to meet one of his friends, Greg or Gavin or something like that, because now James could take note of how to behave around a friend. Tim said they were meeting in an empty alleyway by his friend's house. James followed with glee, this was it, now he could make his own friends. When they arrived it wasn't just one person, however, it was a group of four big teenage boys forming a circle around something or someone. Someone who James could only assume was Tim's friend. "Wait here." Tim hissed at him. James stood back and watched with fascination as Tim ran up behind the bullies and began kicking the shit out of them, throwing punches, and not stopping until the four boys were on the ground. James wasn't sure what he should do, so he continued to stay back and watch. Finally one of the boys recovered and, very shakily, began to stand up. Tim saw this, grabbed the boy's collar, and hissed, "If you touch him again I swear I will hurt you- worse next time. Understand?." The boy he had been holding nodded and started helping the others up, while Tim checked Greg (Gavin?) for injuries. But that was all James needed to see. A Promise. Why hadn't he thought of that? A promise to protect a friend. Tim had a friend and it seemed to work for him so why not for James? He began forming a plan to find someone his age who was being bullied, help them, and…. make a promise. Why not? However, he didn't take into account that he was the target of the class and _he_ needed help. James stopped following Tim around after that. Besides the fight in the alleyway, Tim was rather dull, besides he knew everything he needed to know. It drove James crazy, not knowing when he could put his plan into action. Everyday, he kept inventing new scenarios on how making a friend would go, wondering if it would happen at all.

But 2 years later, after he finally moved to a different town and went to a new school, he finally managed to get a friend, John Watson. It had worked out better than James had ever imagined it in his mind, because James thought _he_ would have to ask to be friends, but no, it had been John who asked him. And he knew it was probably because John was also in need of a friend. And now the rest of his years at school would go smoothly.

The next day, James arrived at school extra early to talk to John before class started. When he got there, however, he felt a little uneasy. John was standing there, staring into his locker and James sensed John was very upset about something.

"John, ummm what's going on?" James asked awkwardly, not sure if he should ask.

John turned around to face James and James began to feel nervous again as he noted the dried tear streaks on John's face.

"I'm….we're…. me and my mum and sister, we're moving. Today's my last day here." John finally managed to whisper to James. James felt his head spin and he began to feel dizzy. The next few school years were supposed to go according to his plan.

James finally managed to reply with a simple "oh." The bell rang, pulling both boys back to reality. John and James nodded sadly at one another and began to walk to there next class.

However, when lunch came John sat with James, he had been expecting John to talk the whole time, but instead they sat in silence. Both thinking of what the future held for them. They had exchanged a few words, but the most interesting the conversation had gotten was when John told him what teachers were mean and which ones were okay. They both ignored the subject that was filling their minds: John moving.

At the end of the day John stuck out his hand toward James to shake it. James was hesitant at first, because he rarely allowed people to touch him. But he decided he would allow it this once since John was a friend, and this was likely the last time either boy would see one another. So James took John's hand and shook it. John's hand was warm and firm and inviting, and James realized he wouldn't forget the way John's hand felt. John was the only one who seemed to like him even after only knowing him for a day.

"Goodbye, James."

"Bye, John." James managed to say back. The boys left, both feeling more empty than they ever had. _Now what would school be like, without John?_ James shook his head and decided to try and get John Watson out of his mind forever.


	4. Chapter 4

James did not truly understand why he had been so upset John was moving. After all, he had only just met John yesterday, and yet he had only ever remembered feeling this empty once before, the day he found out his mum had died. But he already had an idea of how to fix how he was feeling, he was going to get rid of as much memory of John Watson as he could. However, he first let the picture of John flash through his head first, and he felt the same sadness as before. James shook his head, _enough_. He stopped thinking of John and tried his very best to forget about that day and the previous one. The day he met John.

The following week had defiantely not been the best James had experienced and it started with Carl Powers. It was Monday and the first day James would go to school without…. that _other_ kid by his side. Not that it mattered, he was fine alone, alone protected him. And there and then he decided to never have anyone in his life he could call a 'friend'.

James found his way to his locker and began opening it up, he hoped that Carl Powers and his idiotic gang weren't at school. Although, they had never beat him up, they might. _You can take them on even if they do,_ a voice in his head said. _But what if they attack me with more than 3 guys? And last time I had the surprise attack. Yep I'm screwed if they beat up me._

However, James did manage to make it the rest of the school day without running into Powers. His good luck didn't last long though, on his way home he didn't get more than two blocks in before running into Carl Powers and the two guys from the Thursday before, plus three extra boys. He knew he was in a ton of trouble, last time he saw Carl Powers he had punched Powers in the face. That was him vs just Powers though, while his two sidekicks from before looked on with too much shock to move. Now there were five and James honestly had no idea what to do. They approached him with sickening smiles on their faces.

"Heard you're a new kid- James Moriarty. Am I right?" Carl Power said, the smile on his face growing bigger as James nodded his head. "You probably didn't know that no one, _ever_ , treats me like that. And we're here to teach you a lesson." James stood there nervously as the group began forming a circle around him. The two new guys in the group, who James decided to call sasquatch and duck face, lunged at him and painfully twisted his arms behind his back. James squirmed, but his efforts were useless. Carl laughed and began punching him. First he punched mainly James' stomach, then he moved up to James' face and kept hitting his left cheek over and over again. Carl would have kept on going except Eric and Tony pulled him back and told him that James had had enough. Reluctantly, Powers stopped and told sasquatch and duck face to let James go. James fell to the ground clutching his stomach and cringed when he touched his left cheek. He sat up, even though his whole body was screaming sounds of protest. He managed to drag himself home and immediately iced his cheek. He was thankful his ribs didn't feel like they were broke, but he knew people would be talking about the big blue purple bruises appearing on his cheek the next day. When his father got home from his job at the grocery store and asked about the bruise on James' face, he simply told his father that he should see the other guy. His father had clapped him on the back and said, "That's my boy."

The same thing happened almost everyday after school, James tried taking different routes to school each day, but no matter what way he took Powers and his gang was always following him. James asked his father if he could pick him up from school, but his father had told him he couldn't afford taking time off work or leaving early, they really needed the money. The situation with Powers was bad but, one of the worst times was when Carl had broken his arm and he had to go to the hospital. James convinced everyone he had fallen on his arm really hard during recess. He was not going to tell on Powers' though, James Moriarty never asked for help. He was bullied two weeks straight before James snapped and decided he had had enough.

That was when James decided he was going to _kill_ Carl Powers. James smiled to himself, he was good at science and one of his secret, slightly psychopathic obsession, was making poison. He couldn't explain why, but poison interested him so much, a substance that could kill you! Imagine! He had always kept this obsession to himself for obvious reasons though. The smile got bigger as he thought of throwing Powers in the school's swimming pool afterward. His smiled disappeared for a second, _Carl deserves it though, if it weren't for the stupid boys in his group, pulling him back Powers would have killed me,_ James thought to himself.

This was the first time he had ever felt like this. Even at his old school he had never felt like murdering anyone, but then again not one person had been so obsessed with hurting him so much. And those past two weeks had really changed James Moriarty, now he was ready to prove to Powers, and someday the world, how smart and deadly he truly was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to those who are still reading this.**

 **A quick summary of this chapter in three words: Carl Power dies. (I suck at summaries)**

John was not sure how he felt about his new school, Rita's Middle School. He wasn't being bullied which was obviously a big improvement, and yet all he could think about was James Moriarty. John sadly thought of James and hoped Powers left him alone, but he doubted it. His old school, Conway Middle, was very, _very_ , small meaning the bullies did not have much to choose from on who to bully. It also didn't help that James had hurt Powers, now the gang was really going to get James.

 _He beat him for you._ A small voice in the back of John's mind whispered.

 _And now you are gone and James is all alone, probably getting beat up because he protected you._ Now John was really feeling guilty.

He knew that James Moriarty was going to be a great man when he grew up. John admired James so much, even after only knowing him less than two days. Anyone who was as brave and nice as James deserved to be respected.

John quickly shook his head, it was time to go to school, he closed his journal which he had been writing in and headed for the door.

After school he found out that Harry had met someone named Clara. Much to John's surprise Clara was not an alcoholic, but a sweet girl with long curly brown hair and round blue eyes, who liked Harry, but not her drinking habit. John got to know her since she started coming to the house more and more. Until a few weeks later Harry announced they were dating.

 _Opposites attract._ And that was the only explanation John had as to how and why Harry's and Clara's relationship even happened. John was happy for Harry, but he still had not made a single friend he was just… ignored.

…

James was excited and ready on that Friday, after a few weeks of experimenting he had completed the botulinum poison. It would be almost undetectable once injected which was good considering James was going to make it look like foolish Carl Powers had drowned in the pool- an accident. He was planning on doing it on Monday, hey, at the very least they could be out of school for the week due to the very 'tragic' accident which was Carl's death.

James already knew how he would get Carl alone and it worked. Here's how it played out for James.

Monday before school:

After Carl and his group were done laughing at James after Carl made a rude joke about him, James turned and faced Powers.

James: "Powers, we need to talk."

Carl: "What, freak?"

James: " _Alone_."

Carl turned to the rest of his group: "Go to our lockers I'll be there in a second." His group turned and left, leaving James and Carl alone.

James: "OK, you're basically just a coward who needs a huge group to take on me. Just me."

James ignored the fire that gleamed in Carl Powers' eyes. "I'm going to tell the whole school you're scared of me and that you need a group of five to take me on," It was a good thing for James that Powers cared about his public image so much and it was also good Carl didn't know he was going to be dead the following afternoon. "So you meet me at the pool two hours after school and we'll fight, I'll explain the rules at the pool, just you and me to see who the winner is. If you win I won't say how big a coward you really are."

Carl: "And if you win?" His voice was threatening, but James was not intimidated.

James: "I don't want anything, you and your group can even go on bullying me." Carl looked very suspicious, but didn't say anything, "Also, don't tell anyone or bring anyone or I tell the school without a fight." Carl nodded and walked away, trying not to show how scared he really was. He needed his gang to win a fight, but he would not let his classmates think he was a coward.

Unfortunately for him, that pride was his downfall.

…

After school James made sure the poison was ready in a syringe and in his back pocket. A few minutes later Carl walked in, no one was here except the two boys, everyone else had gone home. The old school was so small, and usually no one gave a damn about it, nothing in the school worth damaging if someone were to break in anyway, which was yet to happen. So the doors were always unlocked, even though the sign on the door announced the doors were always locked after 4:30 pm.

"So what are your rules?" Carl asked, trying to sound tough.

"My _rule_ …" James said slowly, while slipping his hand into his back pocket. "Is that no one treats me like shit" those were James' final words to Powers before he leapt forward and drained the syringe of poison into Carl's neck. Carl was too surprised to fight back, his eyes grew large and he sank to the floor. Powers breathing was getting slower and he was now struggling for air. Carl looked at James with pleading eyes, but there was no regret in his eyes.

"Do you regret treating me like I was dirt now, Powers?"

But Carl shook his head, regret wouldn't change his fate now, and besides, all those fun days of pushing James around had been worth it. Carl did not regret bullying James even now, moments from death. James wondered why, before realizing that was the kind of monster Powers was. _Monster, what does that make me? A psychopath I guess._ Finally, Carl's big body went limp, shaking James out of his thoughts. James checked his pulse- dead. James was about to roll Carl's body when he had an idea. He quickly removed Powers' white shoes that Carl was always bragging about, James smiled, a token from his first murder. Then he rolled the body into the pool.

"Good bye Carl Powers, I won't miss you too much."

 **Ok, so the next chapter will have Sherlock in it. Please leave reviews if you want. More chapters to come…...**


End file.
